The growing strength of populist movements across the globe alarms many observers in the media. Their election victories in Europe and the US shocked mainstream parties and their allies. PDAA’s November 13 PDAA luncheon program heard from outstanding European correspondents about the political landscape in their respective countries and their view of Washington’s current political standoff. The conversation was moderated […]

Fake News and Disinformation: we cannot watch the news, surf the Internet, or even carry on a social conversation without hearing the words. Whether from U.S. political leaders and spokespersons, foreign governments, media figures, violent extremists, “tweeters” “bloggers,” or bots, we face an almost-constant onslaught of fake news, “alternative facts,” or disinformation. Sifting fact from fiction has become increasingly challenging for citizens needing […]

(15 August 2016). The state and art of digital diplomacy is the focus of the next First Monday Forum, set for Monday, 11 September 2017 beginning at 12:00 noon, at American Foreign Service Association in Washington, D.C. (The actual first Monday in September is the Labor Day holiday.)

On the date exactly 16 years after 9-11, the discussion will examine new methods needed to communicate effectively in a digital environment. An expert […]

(Update: 12 April 2017) Over 80 percent of the world’s people identify with a religious group, and religious groups and leaders are playing increasingly important roles in both their own societies and in international relations. Yet, the U.S. Government and American diplomats have long been wary of engagement with religious groups for fear of violating the separation of Church and State.

(Update: 13 March 2017) PDAA will celebrate its 20th anniversary of honoring excellence in public diplomacy at its 2017 award ceremony and brunch to be held May 7, 2017.

In all but five years since 1993, PDAA has honored professionals in government agencies and non-government organizations working in more than 50 countries and in the United States whose work makes a difference in […]

Crew members from U.S., Russia, and Japan aboard the International Space Station, December 2015. (NASA.gov)

(14 January 2017) From John Glenn to Elon Musk, Americans who dare to go to space have inspired Americans from the first days of the space program. Through State, the U.S. has been a leader at the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) and other international fora on space and earth sciences.